Let's begin by finding a comfortable place to relax and unwind.
If you need to sit,
Find a comfortable seat to sit on and making sure you're comfortable first.
If you need to lay down and are falling asleep or just getting more comfortable,
Please do so now.
Good.
Now begin by taking in some refreshing deep breaths,
Breathing in and breathing out naturally.
When we begin to meditate,
We sometimes focus on our breathing a little too much,
Where it feels manufactured or not natural.
Just let go of that and know that breathing is natural and automatic for all of us.
Just let it find its correct rhythm now.
Good.
Now let your senses begin to feel out the room or space you're in.
Just begin to hear all the sounds in the room and feel the temperature in the room.
Is it hot?
Or is it cold?
And if you still need to get comfortable,
Now is the time.
Just understand that none of the sounds or temperatures in the room will deter you from your session today.
In fact,
Those sounds will only work to take you deeper into your practice.
So begin to notice your thoughts and your feelings.
What do they feel like?
Are your thoughts rapid or slow?
Either way,
Just notice them.
Just notice your physical feelings and your emotional ones.
Understand that they do not control you and they do not rule you.
You are the master and they are the slave.
Just notice them and when you do,
Return your focus to the breath.
The simple breath of air coming in the nose and out of the nose.
Notice the cool sensation around the nostrils when you breathe in and the warm sensation around the nostrils when you breathe out.
Good.
Just allow yourself for a few more deep breaths.
Breathing in all that calm and exhaling all the tension and stress in the body.
Breathing in calm and exhaling any stress or any tension in the body.
Good.
Now when you think about pain,
There are many things to consider.
Your body already knows ways to make yourself more comfortable and you can learn more ways.
You can learn to relax.
Relax away the pain.
Many people have learned to manage their pain and you can too.
You have so many powers.
Powers that you can use now,
Now that you need them.
They were always there waiting.
Science has shown that the mind has the ability to block signals from getting to the brain.
You still have the pain but you can fool your brain into not feeling it.
Everyone has that ability.
You just need to need it enough and it will appear for you too.
So think about these ways of blocking the pain and choose the one that you think works best for you.
You know the way that water can just dry up and vanish and how sometimes if a picture is left out where the sun can get to it,
It fades away.
Well that happens to other things too.
The first way you can block your pain is to focus on the area that you want to be made better.
Think about that spot,
The exact spot you want to change and now bring your mind a colored spot.
Think of the color that is right for that spot,
The spot you want to change and thinking about that spot,
Take a deep breath and then imagine somehow breathing out through that spot.
Imagine it like a cold icy breath,
A breath of freedom,
Of ease,
Of relief and as you breathe out,
Imagine the color of that spot getting a little lighter and a little less intense.
And now on the next breath out,
Feel that breath going through that spot again and that spot is changing,
Becoming less intense,
Lighter and fading.
Continue enjoying that change and with each breath,
Let the spot change until it's faded away.
That's a good way to go.
And there are other ways,
So I wonder if you can remember a time when you went to the doctors for something that was so bad and after getting treatment,
It just cleared up.
Most people have memories of things that just worked like magic and maybe you've seen a chart in a doctor's office or a clinic or something like that,
Showing the outline of a body and the doctor can point to it and show where the problem is.
And I wonder if you can imagine that you have one of those outlines of yourself and I would like you to imagine that you have a big thick pencil and now draw in the outline where the pain is coming from and be sure to shade in every little bit.
And now you can stand in front of that outline and you have something in your hand that you can use to rub out the drawing that will rub out where the pain is.
See yourself standing there just rubbing out those pencil marks,
Rubbing it away and as you do so,
You feel that area getting lighter.
Feel the pain going away as you rub it off until there's nothing left except the outline and clean whiteness of the paper.
And when there is nothing there but that outline and the white paper and you've wiped away all the discomfort,
It is happening right now just as you imagined it.
And there's another way.
Sometimes when you close a window,
You realize that you have shut out a sound that you really weren't aware of but it seems so peaceful when it's shut out.
Some people think about their pain like a sound.
For them,
Discomfort is like a noise that won't go away.
So maybe you would like to think about the sound of your pain and as you become aware of that sound,
Become aware that you can alter that sound.
So imagine that you can reach out and grasp a control knob,
A control that you can use to turn down the sound.
Turn the volume down and you can turn it down a little or you can choose to keep turning it down and down until you can hear that sound at all.
Until the pain is too small to notice at all and you can relax in peace,
Enjoying a quiet,
Blissful contentment.
Good.
And another way you might like,
Some people like to daydream,
To imagine themselves taking a holiday away from their pain,
To go someplace where they can relax like on a long vacation.
And imagine now,
Preparing to go away on holiday,
On a special vacation.
Think of where it would be good to go,
A place to get away from that discomfort.
Think of the right place to go and who you would take with you or maybe you would prefer to go on your own.
Imagine thinking about going away,
Think about saying bye to your pain,
Just move away and leave it behind.
Imagine you on your way and feel it receding from you as you get further and further away from it and it loses its power and it seems more distant now.
As you imagine being in that holiday place,
Far away and just relaxing now.
Or I wonder if you have ever seen a child holding a bunch of coloured balloons.
Remember the delight of that child?
And think about your pain now and imagine that there's a bunch of coloured balloons attached to the pain.
Imagine those balloons tugging and pulling and wanting to be released.
And then,
Allow those balloons to let go.
Release the first one,
And then another,
And then another.
And as those balloons float up,
Feel that pain changing.
Feel that pain getting smaller as the balloons drift up and away.
As those balloons are getting smaller,
Your pain is getting smaller.
And as those balloons drift right up into the sky,
Your pain is disappearing too.
And letting go of those balloons means that you can let go of all that discomfort.
And imagine that smile of that happy child as you relax now.
Good.
And you might be able to remember a cold day in winter,
Long ago,
Or even right now,
When your fingers lost all feeling,
Or maybe you can recall holding something so cold that you lost the feeling in your hands.
Let your imagination focus on that feeling,
That numb feeling.
And imagine what it would be like to take those numb fingers and touch those cold numb fingers to the place that hurts.
And let that coldness spread from those fingers to the pain spot.
Feel the pain going numb,
Getting cold and detached.
Feel the numbness spread out slowly to every part of the pain.
Feel it penetrating deep into the tissue and easing that pain,
Letting it release,
Letting go.
And that pain can become just a distant idea,
A lack of feeling.
And you might like to do that now.
Good.
You can get houses where you just clap your hands and the lights go on.
And you can get lamps that you just touch them and the lights go on or out.
And now think about how that pain gets to where you feel it.
Let your imagination focus on that feeling.
And when you flick a switch,
You can turn things on and off,
Can't you?
And what you're doing is breaking the circuit,
Removing the connection.
Your body has circuits too,
Connections that run along the nerves.
All those nerves go up the spine into your brain,
But they all run through your neck.
They have to go through a very narrow bit of your neck.
If you break that circuit there,
Then you cannot feel the pain.
You choose what you want to let through.
Think about all those nerves going up to your brain,
Through your neck,
Each nerve thin and fragile.
And now think what it would be like to put a switch there,
A switch that you could use to break that connection.
Think about what that switch is like,
How you would like it to be,
And when you're ready,
Just use that switch to break the connection.
Switch off the pain.
Good.
And here's another really powerful one.
Think about a part of your body that feels good.
Really good,
Well and healthy and working properly.
It might be your feet or your shoulder or your little finger,
Any place you feel strong and healthy.
Now really focus on that part.
Become aware of all the strength and energy flowing through that part.
Let the strength and vitality,
Feel that energy gathering there.
Think about that energy,
Its color,
Its sound,
Its shape,
And watch what happens as that shape starts to turn into a spiral.
A spiral that begins to turn and twist,
Gather strength from that healthy energy.
And now that spiral moves to the part that is troubling you.
Feel it moving to that part now,
And then working on that part,
All that powerful positive energy spinning right there,
Sucking up that feeling,
Taking it away,
And moving off with the pain and discomfort,
And leaving in its place a clean space,
Healthy and at ease.
And as you feel that difference,
You may know which method works best for you,
And you're free to try them all and choose.
And as you are choosing,
You can focus on your breathing now.
Giving away all discomfort,
Becoming totally at ease,
Knowing you can feel what you want to feel,
And not feel what you choose not to feel.
Let each breath out relax you into the comfort you want,
Just the way you want it.
And as that comfort increases,
You can begin to become aware of how good you feel,
All over,
And knowing that deep inside,
Things are happening the way they should.
And as you become aware of that,
You can become more aware of where you are again,
And in that better place,
Begin to feel lighter,
More awake,
More aware,
And come back to the present now.
Good.
Enjoy,
And namaste.
